The Social Media Identity Theft of a School Director Via Twitter

/in , , /by

We’ve seen this before and it never ends good. This time it’s resulting in an identity theft charge  for Ira Trey Quesenberry III, an 18-year-old student at Sullivan Central High School. A few years ago this would have been looked upon as a victimless prank. But times have changed and as social media sites like Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn and others have morphed into much more than just recreational websites, it’s not just unacceptable; it’s a crime.

The Twitter account was created with the name and photo of Dr. Jubal Yennie, director of the Sullivan County school district. The account has since been deleted but the tweets sent in Yennie’s name were reported to be of an embarrassing nature and not appropriate for a school administrator. Why would an 18 year old do something like that?

The Smoking Gun reports, “Yennie contacted sheriff’s deputies last Friday to report the phony Twitter account. After investigators linked Quesenberry to the account, the teen reportedly confessed to opening it. Quesenberry was booked today by sheriff’s deputies, and is due to appear tomorrow in General Sessions court.”

Grab your/companies name/products/services, people. Sites like Knowem.com will do this for free or for a small fee. The worst thing you can do is nothing. There are millions of 18-year-olds out there to make you look stupid-er.

Robert Siciliano, personal security and identity theft expert and Advisory Board member to Knowem. He is the author of 99 Things You Wish You Knew Before Your Mobile was Hacked! See him knock’em dead in this identity theft prevention video. Disclosures

Lost and Stolen Wallets Lead To Identity Theft

/in , /by

A friend called me in a panic because she had lost her wallet, which contained her driver’s license, credit cards, debit card, store cards, and her Social Security card. (You should never carry your Social Security card or Social Security number in your purse or wallet.)

Anyway, she was freaked out and wanted to know what to do. There are certain things you can do now, before your wallet is lost or stolen, to mitigate future damage, and other things that should be done once a wallet is missing.

While you still have your wallet, thin it out as much as possible. If you have multiple credit cards, store cards, Social Security cards, insurance cards, and more, then, “Houston, we have a problem.” All these ancillary cards serve no purpose other than putting you at risk for new account fraud or account takeover.

Remove unnecessary cards and put them in a safe, or cut them up and cancel the accounts. I have a MasterCard and an American Express, and if everyone took American Express I’d only have one card. I also carry a Costco card, driver’s license, and a debit card to make deposits and get cash. That’s it.

Beyond that, no other card is needed, including insurance cards. Insurance cards only need to be carried the day of an appointment. They are not necessary in emergency situations.

Photocopy all the cards in your wallet (front and back) and keep them in a safe.

When your wallet is lost or stolen, pull out the photocopies of your cards. Call the credit card issuer to report the loss and request new cards.

Easy enough. However, there is one thing I’d recommend you do prior to losing your wallet — invest in an identity theft protection service.

To ensure peace of mind, subscribe to an identity theft protection service, such as McAfee Identity Protection, which offers proactive identity surveillance and lost wallet protection. If your credit or debit cards are ever lost, stolen or misused without your authorization, you can call McAfee Identity Protection and they’ll help you cancel them and order new ones. If their product fails, you’ll be reimbursed for any stolen funds not covered by your bank or credit card company. (For details, see McAfee’s guarantee.) For additional tips, please visit CounterIdentityTheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss identity theft on YouTube. (Disclosures)

Botnets Lead to Identity Theft

/in , , /by

When a virus recruits an infected PC into a botnet, a criminal hacker is able to remotely access all the data on that computer.

Robot networks, or botnets, have a varied history. A bot, which doesn’t necessarily have to be malicious or harmful, is essentially a program designed to connect to a server and execute a command or series of commands.

As reported by a McAfee study, networks of bots, otherwise known as drones or zombies, are often used to commit cybercrime. This can include “stealing trade secrets, inserting malware into source code files, disrupting access or service, compromising data integrity, and stealing employee identity information. The results to a business can be disastrous and lead to the loss of revenue, regulatory compliance, customer confidence, reputation, and even of the business itself. For government organizations, the concerns are even more far reaching.”

In the second quarter of 2010, more than two million PCs were recruited into botnets in the United States alone. That’s more than five out of every 1,000 personal computers. The rise and proliferation of botnets will continue to put identities at risk.

Computers with old, outdated, or unsupported operating systems like Windows 95, 98, and 2000 are extremely vulnerable. Systems using old or outdated browsers such as IE 5 or 6, or older versions of Firefox offer the path of least resistance.

To protect yourself, update your operating system to Windows 7 or XP SP3. Make sure your antivirus software is set to update automatically. Keep your critical security patches up to date by setting Windows Update to run automatically as well. And don’t engage in risky online activities that invite attacks.

In order to protect your identity, it is important to observe basic security precautions. When you conduct transactions with corporations and other entities, however, the safety of your information is often beyond your control.

Consumers should consider an identity theft protection product that offers daily credit monitoring, proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, and alerts when suspicious activity is detected on your accounts. McAfee Identity Protection includes all these features in addition to live help from fraud resolution agents if your identity is ever compromised. For more tips on protecting yourself, please visitwww.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss identity theft. (Disclosures)

Colorado Supreme Court: Using a Stolen Social Security Number is Not Identity Theft

/in , , , , /by

I feel like my head is going to explode.

The Colorado Supreme Court has ruled “that using someone else’s Social Security number is not identity theft as long as you use your own name with it.”

The defendant in this particular case had admitted to using a false Social Security number on an application for a car loan, and to find employment. The court ruled that since he had used his real name, and the Social Security number was only one of many pieces of identifying information, he “did not assume a false or fictitious identity or capacity,” and “did not hold himself out to be another person.” The court found the defendant’s use of a false Social Security number “irrelevant,” since the number was provided to fulfill “a lender requirement, not a legal requirement.”

Justice Nathan Coats dissented, writing, “The defendant’s deliberate misrepresentation of the single most unique and important piece of identifying data for credit-transaction purposes” was “precisely the kind of conduct meant to be proscribed as criminal.”

This is yet another example of the lack of justice in the judicial system. The justices erred by failing to understand what identity theft really entails, especially when considering the distinction between a “lender requirement” and a “legal requirement.” Whether or not a Social Security number is legally required in order to obtain credit, it is still a legal identifier in many circumstances.

42 USC Chapter 7, Subchapter IV, Part D, Sec. 666(a)(13), a federal law enacted in 1996, determines when the numbers should be used. This law requires a Social Security number to be recorded for “any applicant for a professional license, driver’s license, occupational license, recreational license or marriage license.” It can also be used and recorded by creditors, the Department of Motor Vehicles, whenever a cash transaction exceeds $10,000, and in military matters.

“Synthetic identity theft” occurs whenever an identity is partially or entirely fabricated. This commonly involves the use of a real Social Security number in combination with a name and birth date that are not associated with the number. This type of fraud is more difficult to track because the evidence does not appear on the victim’s credit report or on the perpetrator’s credit report, but rather as a new credit file or subfile. Synthetic identity theft is a problem for creditors, who grant credit based on false records. It can also create complications for individual victims if their names become associated with synthetic identities, or if their credit scores are impacted by negative information in an erroneous subfile.

With this decision, the Colorado Supreme Court has fundamentally upset the balance of law, effectively opening a Pandora’s box of problems. This saga is far from over.

Since the law won’t protect you, at least in this scenario, consider investing in McAfee Identity Protection, which includes proactive identity surveillance to monitor subscribers’ credit and personal information, plus access to live fraud resolution agents who can help subscribers resolve identity theft issues. For additional tips, please visit www.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss identity theft victims onThe Morning Show with Mike and Juliet. (Disclosures)

Identity Theft Part 2 – 5 More Identity Theft Myths Unveiled

/in , , /by

#1 Publically available information is not valuable to an identity thief.

If I was an identity thief I’d start with the phone book. All information about you is of value to an identity thief. The bad guy gathers as much intelligence about you as possible. Once they get enough data to become you they are off and running. The breadcrumbs we leave behind and the information we post is all used to help them gather a complete profile.

#2 Shredding will protect me.

Shredding will keep some of your data out of the hands of a dumpster diver. But when your information is hacked because someone like your bank was hacked or your mortgage broker threw it away, you are vulnerable. While you should still shred, you should also invest in identity theft protection and a credit freeze.

#3 I don’t use the Internet, I pay in cash, my credit stinks, so I am safe.

Wrongo bongo. While you may not use the internet, others that have your information in their internet connected databases make it vulnerable. Using credit cards doesn’t mean your identity is at risk or using cash means you are any less at risk. Credit card fraud isn’t identity theft. It’s credit card fraud. Just call the credit cards issuing bank and refute the charges within 60 days and you are fine. Bad credit just means not all lenders will grant you credit. Everyone with a SSN, a pulse and even some who are dead are vulnerable.

#4 My privacy settings in social media sites are locked down, so I am safe.

Negative. The mere fact you are sharing personal identifying information of any kind with anyone online means you are at risk. Anyone who you are connected to is a potential leak, whether you know them or not. If you tell a secret to one person, you are vulnerable. If you tell it to 250 people, the secret is out. Never share information in social media that could be used to crack the code of a password reset.

#5 Shopping or banking online isn’t secure.

It all depends. More than likely the etailer or bank where you do business is more secure than your PC. It is often the consumer who is the path of least resistance to fraud. As long as your PC is secured with updated antivirus and spyware protection then you should be fine. Always look for httpS:// in the address bar. The “S” means it’s a more secure site.

Robert Siciliano personal security expert to Home Security Source presenting 20 slides on identity theft at 20 seconds each to the National Speakers Association. Disclosures.

Five Ways Identities Are Stolen Online

/in , , , , /by

Cybercrime has become a trillion dollar issue. In a recent survey, hundreds of companies around the world estimated that they had lost a combined $4.6 billion in intellectual property as a result of data breaches, and spent approximately $600 million repairing the damage. Based on these numbers, McAfee projects that companies lost more than a trillion dollars in the last year.

There are several motives for this type of theft, but the most prevalent is to steal identities. Your identity is your most valuable asset, but most consumers lack the time, knowledge, and resources to protect their identities. Five of the most common ways identities are stolen online are through phishing scams, P2P file sharing, social networking, malicious websites, and malicious attachments.

Phishing: Phishing scams still work. Despite consumer and employee awareness, a carefully crafted email that appears to have been sent by fellow employee or trusted entity is probably the most effective spear phish. “Whaling,” or targeting a CEO or other high level executive with a phishing email can be even more successful. As they say, the bigger they are, the harder they fall. Never click links in emails, even if they appear to come from a bank or other trustworthy source. Instead, type the address in manually or use a bookmark.

P2P File Sharing: Peer-to-peer file sharing is a fantastic way to leak company and client data to the world. Obama’s helicopter plans, security details, and notes on Congressional depositions have all been leaked on government-controlled computers via P2P. You should set administrative privileges to prevent the installation of P2P software.

Social Networking: One of the easiest ways into a company’s networks is through social media. Social networking websites have grown too big, too fast, and can’t keep up with security. Criminals know exactly how to take advantage of this, so create policies and procedures that outline appropriate use, and beware of social networking scams.

Malicious Websites: Websites designed to attack your computer and infect it with viruses number in the millions. Hacked websites, along with out-of-date operating systems and vulnerable browsers, put your identity at risk. Use antivirus software to protect your PC and your data.

Malicious Attachments: PDFs used to be safe, but Adobe is the same boat today that Microsoft found itself in years ago: hack central. Adobe’s software or files are used on almost every PC and across all operating systems, and criminal hackers love it. Every browser requires software to view PDFs and many websites either link to PDFs or incorporate Adobe Flash to play video or for aesthetic reasons. According to an estimate from McAfee, in the first quarter of this year, 28% of all exploit-carrying malware leveraged an Adobe Reader vulnerability.

Identity theft can happen to anyone. McAfee Identity Protection offers proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, and alerts when suspicious activity is detected on your accounts. McAfee Identity Protection puts victims first, providing live access to fraud resolution agents who work with victims to help restore identities. For additional tips, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss P2P file sharing on Fox News. (Disclosures)

Social Media is a Criminals Playground

/in , , , /by

Social media has become a playground for adults, teens, and tweens. And like on any playground, when you hit the jungle gym or horseplay on the seesaw, there is always a chance that you may go home with an egg on your forehead. Or, if you are like me, a broken collarbone.

Twitter and Facebook have become the most popular sites for frolicking, and the most popular sites for identity thieves — the bullies in the playground. These criminal hackers make social media very dangerous. They are attacking these sites to get at you, the end user. Users’ computers can become infected after users click links that appear to be safe, but actually prompt a malicious download or lead to a spoofed website.

New worms and viruses are infecting social networking websites every day. As these sites expand, they adopt new technologies that sometimes create holes through which they can be attacked. Social networking websites’ open nature allows users to upload content including files that may contain “scripts,” or code, designed to infect the site. Participating in user-submitted surveys, quizzes, and other applications may result in spam or stolen data.

The websites themselves host millions of users and they simply can’t protect every user. New technology is developed at a rate that vastly outpaces the security necessary to keep those technologies bulletproof. Essentially, you’re on your own.

While it is rare for a user to post Social Security numbers, which can directly lead to identity theft, on a social networking website, these websites or their users’ actions can compromise PCs, which does ultimately lead to identity theft.

Always make sure to run antivirus software, such as McAfee Total Protection, and invest in McAfee Identity Protection, which monitors your Social Security number and several other parameters of your identity. Learn more about how to protect yourself at http://www.counteridentitytheft.com/.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss Facebook scammers on CNN. (Disclosures)

Identity Theft Consumer Education is Paramount

/in , , , , /by

Credit card companies, banks, financial advisors, retailers, hospitals, insurance companies, and just about every other industry and organization that deals with finances has been affected by identity theft.

All these entities have to deal with fraud at some level. For some it’s an occasional nuisance and for others it’s a part of their daily grind. Most have heavily invested in multiple layers of security, but all remain targets. Each has its own set of issues to overcome and each copes with the same underlying constant: the consumer is often the most vulnerable variable in the equation.

Joe and Sally Main Street generally offer the path of least resistance when a scam is launched. Everything from phishing emails, spoofed websites, un-patched or unprotected PCs, open wireless connections, lack of attention to statements, not shredding data, carrying too much information in a wallet, and overall lack of attention to personal security allows fraud to flourish.

Anne Wallace, president of the Identity Theft Assistance Center, explains that the risks are compounded by the increasing popularity of new technologies like mobile banking and social networking. “The crooks are ever-creative,” she says. “They’re always exploiting new schemes to extract information from consumers.” According to Wallace, ITAC members have an obligation to educate consumers about the security threats posed by emerging technology. “It’s so important to keep talking to people about the old threats, the new threats – on a recurring basis.”

I totally agree. Every institution that deals with identity theft has an obligation to effectively inform and educate their client base about how they can protect themselves from fraud.

Many of these organizations have policies that shift the burden of loss away from the consumers. This is a double-edged sword that does not stop fraud. I’m a big believer in personal responsibility. Whether fraud is the fault of the consumer or a larger entity, a resolution in the best interest of both parties should be sought. It is imperative, however, that the party responsible acknowledges that responsibility. This is how we learn from our mistakes, and how we will eventually overcome fraud. If all parties escape blame, only the scammer wins, and fraud flourishes.

For additional tips and identity theft education, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss identity theft victims on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.(Disclosures)

Victim Rebuilds Life After Identity Theft

/in , , , , /by

This story is about a victim of criminal identity theft. The victim is a trucker who discovered that his identity had been stolen when his commercial driver’s license was suspended because the thief who stole his identity had been busted for drinking and driving on four different occasions. Imagine.

The consequences of identity theft are often so overwhelming that the pressure affects every aspect of the victims’ lives. Sometimes the stress is so great that people just fall apart. In the case, the victim lost his license, his possessions, and his marriage.

After testifying against the identity thief, the victim, Earl Robert Hood, told the Associated Press, “It was just hard to sit there in that room with him, knowing what he’d done to me and my family. It’s not just me that it affected; it affected all four of my children, too. Because for two years, they didn’t have Christmas.” The victim went on to say the thief didn’t just steal his name; he stole his life. “I’ve lost everything,” he said. “It just completely wiped me out.”

When this victim’s commercial driver’s license was suspended, so was his ability to earn a living. With no money coming in, bills piled up and the downward spiral began.

Hood’s identity was stolen after he handed his personal information over to a potential employer. Job applications often require applicants to provide home addresses, copies of existing driver’s licenses, Social Security numbers, and, in some cases, birth certificates. This is more than enough information for an identity thief to assume a victim’s full identity.

Victims of identity theft are generally presumed guilty until proven innocent. In this case, the perpetrator committed crimes in multiple states, which further complicated the situation. It took years for this victim to recover his license, even after contacting his state’s Attorney General.

Identity theft can happen to anyone.  McAfee Identity Protection, offers proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, and alerts when suspicious activity is detected on your accounts. McAfee Identity Protection puts victims first and provides live access to fraud resolution agents who work with the victim to help restore their identity even from past theft events. For additional tips, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com.

Robert Siciliano is a McAfee consultant and identity theft expert. See him discuss identity theft victims on The Morning Show with Mike & Juliet.(Disclosures)

College Students At Risk For Identity Theft

/in , , , , /by

September is National Campus Safety Awareness Month. I helped Uni-Ball conduct a survey of 1,000 college students and 1,000 parents. The survey revealed that while about 74% of parents believe students are at a moderate to high risk for identity theft, and 30% of all identity theft victims are between 18 and 29, only 21% of students are concerned about identity theft.

It’s no surprise that most college students are indifferent when it comes to their personal and information security. When you are in your late teens or early twenties, you feel a sense of invincibility. However, once you have a few years under your belt, you begin to mature and gradually realize the world isn’t all about keg parties and raves.

Here are a few more interesting statistics:

  • 89% of parents have discussed safety measures with their kids, yet kids continue to engage in risky behavior
  • 40% of students leave their apartment or dorm doors unlocked
  • 40% of students have provided their Social Security numbers online
  • 50% of students shred sensitive data
  • 9% of students share online passwords with friends
  • 1 in 10 have allowed strangers into their apartments

College students have always been easy marks because their credit is ripe for the taking. Students’ Social Security numbers have traditionally been openly displayed on student badges, testing information, and in filing cabinets and databases all over campus. Landlords and others involved in campus housing also have access to students identifying information.

Any parent sending a child off to college should be concerned.

Limit the amount of information you give out. While you may have to give out certain private data in certain circumstances, you should refuse whenever possible.

Shred everything! Old bank statements, credit card statements, credit card offers, and any other documents containing account numbers need to be shredded when no longer needed.

Lock down your PC. Make sure your Internet security software is up to date. Install spyware removal software. Secure your wireless connection. Use strong passwords that include upper and lowercase letters as well as numbers. And never share passwords.

Be alert for online scams. Never respond to emails or text messages that appear to come from your bank. Always log into your bank account manually via your favorites menu.

When sending students back to school, consider protecting your family with a subscription to an identity theft protection service, such as McAfee Identity Protection, which offers proactive identity surveillance, lost wallet protection, and alerts when suspicious activity is detected on any of your accounts. For additional tips, please visit http://www.counteridentitytheft.com